Phoebe’s POV
I was drowning.
Not in water—in sothing thicker, darker. Every breath felt like swallowing liquid lead. My lungs scread for air that wouldn’t co.
But through the suffocating darkness, I heard him.
Perry’s voice cut through the void like a lifeline thrown to a drowning woman. He kept saying my na, over and over, each repetition laced with raw desperation that made my heart clench.
"Phoebe... please... wake up..."
His anguish was worse than my own pain. Whatever was happening to , it was destroying him. I had to get back. I had to reach him.
The comfortable darkness whispered seductive promises of rest, of peace, of an end to all struggle. But Perry’s broken voice anchored to consciousness. I couldn’t abandon him. Not when he sounded so lost.
I forced my eyes open.
Water surrounded completely—crystal clear but impossibly deep. Above, brilliant sunlight pierced the liquid darkness in shimring golden columns. That light was my salvation. I had to reach it.
I kicked upward with desperate strength.
The surface should have been close, but with each stroke, it seed to retreat further. My lungs should have been burning, yet sohow I could breathe in this strange realm.
I swam harder, panic driving forward.
Dark clouds suddenly swallowed the sun above. The golden light vanished, plunging everything into absolute blackness.
I couldn’t see my own hands stretched out before .
The water disappeared. I found myself floating in empty void—no up, no down, no direction at all. I spun helplessly, searching for any landmark, any hint of escape.
Perry’s voice had vanished too.
Silence pressed against my eardrums like a physical weight. The emptiness was complete, hungry, waiting to devour what little remained of .
Terror clawed at my chest, but I fought to stay rational. Panic would only make things worse.
Ti ant nothing in this nightmare realm. I might have drifted for seconds or centuries before my feet finally touched solid ground.
The oppressive darkness lifted slightly. I sat on soft grass in a ring of towering trees. To my left stretched a pristine lake, its surface like polished obsidian.
On the far shore stood a magnificent white wolf.
Recognition hit like a physical blow. I’d seen this place before—in dreams that always faded upon waking. But now every detail remained sharp, vivid, terrifyingly real.
The wolf lowered its muzzle to drink, then raised its head when it sensed my stare. Our eyes locked across the dark water.
Sothing twisted in my stomach. Those eyes... they were familiar in a way that made no sense.
I approached the lake’s edge and gazed down at my reflection.
Nothing stared back.
No image at all—just empty water where my face should have been.
My blood turned to ice. I looked across at the white wolf, and sohow, impossibly, my own face looked back from its reflection.
"That’s not possible..."
I stumbled backward, but the image persisted. My reflection lived in the wolf’s body while my own yielded nothing.
I had to reach that creature. I had to understand what was happening to .
I studied the lake’s periter, but both ends vanished into impenetrable darkness that seed to pulse with malevolent hunger. Whatever lurked in those shadows, I wasn’t brave enough to discover.
The lake itself offered the only path forward.
But how deep was it? What creatures might be hiding in those black depths, waiting for sothing foolish enough to enter their domain?
I chewed my lip, paralyzed by impossible choices.
The white wolf stepped forward and walked directly onto the water’s surface—not swimming, but moving across the lake as if it were solid glass.
"What the hell..."
The trees around vanished without warning, leaving only , the lake, and the impossible creature approaching across liquid that defied every law of nature.
My knees buckled. Every instinct scread at to run, but where could I go? This realm followed no rules I understood.
The wolf stopped in the lake’s center and settled onto its haunches, watching with predatory patience.
In its reflection, I saw myself moving in perfect synchronization—but my reflection-self looked different. Cold. Empty. Waiting for sothing terrible.
"You want to co to you?" My voice cracked with fear.
The wolf didn’t respond, but its stillness felt like a challenge. Or a trap.
With no other options, I placed one trembling foot on the lake’s surface.
The water held my weight like solid crystal.
My heart hamred against my ribs as I took another step. I couldn’t see my own reflection below, but I kept moving toward the wolf—toward whatever fate awaited in this impossible place.
When only an arm’s length separated us, I stopped.
The wolf was even more magnificent up close—pristine white fur that seed to glow with inner light, intelligent eyes that held secrets I desperately needed to understand.
But those eyes also held sothing else.
Hunger.
I reached out slowly, my fingers trembling as they moved toward the creature’s beautiful, dangerous head.
The mont my skin made contact with its fur, the world exploded into blinding white light.
Reviews
All reviews (0)